Friday 1 June 1660

This morning Mr. Sheply disposed of the money that the Duke of York did give my Lord’s servants, 22 ducatoons came to my share, whereof he told me to give Jaspar something because my Lord left him out.1 I did give Mr. Sheply the fine pair of buckskin gloves that I bought myself about five years ago.

My Lord took physic to-day, and so come not out all day. The Captain on shore all day.

After dinner Captain Jefferys and W. Howe, and the Lieutenant and I to ninepins, where I lost about two shillings and so fooled away all the afternoon.

At night Mr. Cooke comes from London with letters, leaving all things there very gallant and joyful. And brought us word that the Parliament had ordered the 29th of May, the King’s birthday, to be for ever kept as a day of thanksgiving for our redemption from tyranny, and the King’s return to his Government, he entering London that day.

My poor wife has not been well a week before, but thanks be to God is well again. She would fain see me and be at her house again, but we must be content. She writes word how the Joyces grow very rich and very proud, but it is no matter, and that there was a talk that I should be knighted by the King, which they (the Joyces) laugh at; but I think myself happier in my wife and estate than they are in theirs.

To bed. The Captain come on board, when I was going to bed, quite fuddled; and himself the next morning told me so too, that the Vice-Admiral, Rear- Admiral, and he had been drinking all day.

Foreign coins were in frequent use at this time. A Proclamation, January 29th, 1660-61, declared certain foreign gold and silver coins to be current at certain rates. The rate of the ducatoon was at 5s. 9d.↩

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Annotations

2 ducatoons 3 appears to be another scanning error. Wheatley has it a 22 ducatoons. The 3 crept in because of the footnote that was attached to the word which was misinterpreted by the Gutenberg scanner.

The L&M entry is "22 Duccatons". They do the calculation in a footnote and come up with L6 7s as a value.

ducatoon (OED):A silver coin formerly current in Italian and some other European states, worth from 5 to 6 shillings sterling. 1611 CORYAT Crudities 285 The greatest [Venetian silver coin] is the duckatoone, which containeth eight livers, that is, sixe shillings. a1659 CLEVELAND Gen. Poems (1677) 40 What mean the Elders else, those Kirk Dragoons, Made up of Ears and Ruffs like Ducatoons? 1672 PETTY Pol. Anat. 385 Weighty plate pieces, together with ducatoons, making about three quarters of the money now current in Ireland. 1704 Royal Proclam. 18 June in Lond. Gaz. No. 4029/1 Duccatoons of Flanders, Twenty Peny-weight and Twenty one Grains, Five Shillings and Six Pence.

"She writes word how the Joyces grow very rich and very proud, but it is no matter, and that there was a talk that I should be knighted by the King, which they (the Joyces) laugh at; but I think myself happier in my wife and estate than they are in theirs."

The Joyces are cousins of the Pepys, but definitely not kissing cousins. They've appeared a few times before in the diary: see 26 Jan, 29 Jan (and Eric Walla's comment) and 3 February, usually with negative comments from our Sam.

I wonder if he had been knighted, if it would have changed the way history view's him? I don't remember him getting a mention in any of my history lessons; It was later in life when I started to read again that I would from time to time see references to his diary, it was then that I started to collect the L.M. edition of the diarys, I wonder how most other people came to gain an interest in (Sir) Samuel Pepys?

It's interesting to see how bribery is totally standard in society at this time. When Sheply gives Pepys a share of the money, Pepys feels obliged to give him a gift of expensive gloves in return, presumably to thank him for being given a good share. Everything is done on the basis of personal obligations and 'you rub my back, I'll rub yours'.

I also noted a couple of weeks ago when Pepys was writing out the orders to various officers to give them posts on various ships, the officers felt obliged to give gifts of money to Pepys when he presented them with their commissions.